Abhanga 2843
Gāūm neṇe parī mī kāmhī gāīna — (I) don't know how to sing — but I'll sing something; śaraṇa jāīna Pāṇḍurangā — (I) will take śaraṇa at Pāṇḍuranga.
The verse
गाऊं नेणें परी मी कांहीं गाईंन । शरण जाईंन पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
ब्रम्हांडनायक मी त्याचा अंकित । काय यमदूत करिती काळ ॥ध्रु.॥
वश्या ज्याच्या नामें तारिली गणिका । अजामेळासारिखा पापरासीं ॥२॥
चरणींच्या रजें अहिल्या तारिली । रूपवंत केली कुबजा क्षणें ॥३॥
पृथिवी तारिली पाताळासी जातां । तुका म्हणे आतां आम्ही किती ॥४॥
Literal translation
Gāūm neṇe parī mī kāmhī gāīna — (I) don't know how to sing — but I'll sing something; śaraṇa jāīna Pāṇḍurangā — (I) will take śaraṇa at Pāṇḍuranga. Brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka mī tyāñcā ankita — (He is) the brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka (cosmos-lord), I am his ankita (bondsman, marked-one); kāya yama-dūta karitī kāḷa — what can Yama-dūtas, kāḷa (Time) do? Vaśyā jyāñcyā nāme tārilī gaṇikā — (those) by whose Name the gaṇikā (courtesan) (called Vaśyā — the famous-Vaiśyā/Pingaḷā?) was saved; Ajāmīḷa-sārikhā pāpa-rāśī — (and saved) the pāpa-rāśi (heap-of-sin) like Ajāmīḷa. Charaṇīñcyā rajē Ahilyā tārilī — by the charaṇīñcyā rajē (feet-dust), Ahilyā was saved; rūpavantī kelī Kubjā kṣaṇe — Kubjā was made rūpavantī (beautiful) in a kṣaṇa (moment). Prthivī tārilī pātāḷāsī jātām — (the) prthivī (earth) was saved (when she was) going to pātāḷa; Tukā says: ātām āmhī kitī — now what are we (in comparison)?
What it means
A canonical 5-verse bhakti-redemption-confidence verse. The verse names five canonical redemption-stories and concludes with if-they-were-saved-what-of-us?
Opening humility: gāūm neṇe parī mī kāmhī gāīna — śaraṇa jāīna Pāṇḍurangā — I don't know how to sing — but I'll sing something — I will take śaraṇa at Pāṇḍuranga. The opening kavi-vinaya (poet's humility) + śaraṇāgati.
Dhrūpada: brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka mī tyāñcā ankita — kāya yama-dūta karitī kāḷa — brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka, I am his ankita — what can Yama-dūtas, kāḷa do? The bhakta is ankita (bondsman, marked-as-his) of the cosmos-lord; therefore Yama-dūtas (death's-messengers) cannot touch.
The redemption-list (5 stories): 1. Vaśyā/Pingaḷā the gaṇikā: a courtesan who-was-saved (perhaps the Pingaḷā of Bhāgavata) 2. Ajāmīḷa: the canonical pāpa-rāśī — saved-by-calling-Nārāyaṇa-while-calling-his-son-Nārāyaṇa at death (Bhāgavata 6.1-3) 3. Ahilyā: the stone-woman saved-by-the-feet-dust of Rāma (Rāmāyaṇa) 4. Kubjā: the hunch-backed woman made rūpavantī (beautiful) instantly by Krṣṇa (Bhāgavata 10.41-42) 5. Prthivī: the earth saved-from-pātāḷa by Varāha-avatāra (Bhāgavata 3.13)
Close: Tukā mhaṇe ātām āmhī kitī — now what are we (in comparison)? The diagnostic-question: if-these-five-have-been-saved by your-Name and feet-dust, what is the difficulty for us-now-living?
The list pairs with 2787's Ajāmīḷa-Bhillī-Kuṇṭanī-Vālmīka redemption-list. Together they form the Tukārām canonical-bhakti-redemption-corpus.
For someone today
A canonical bhakti-redemption-confidence text. I don't know how to sing — but I'll sing something. I will take śaraṇa at Pāṇḍuranga. (He is) the brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka — I am his ankita. What can Yama-dūtas, Kāḷa do? — (those) by whose Name the gaṇikā was saved; (those who saved) a pāpa-heap like Ajāmīḷa. By the feet-dust, Ahilyā was saved; Kubjā made beautiful in a moment. The earth was saved going to pātāḷa — now what are we (in comparison)? The verse provides bhakti-confidence-by-precedent: the five-canonical-redemptions show the Lord-saves-the-fallen; if-they-were-saved, my-case is not difficult. The verse can be recited as bhakti-confidence-restoration in moments of self-condemnation.
Where this applies
- The canonical bhakti-redemption-confidence list
- Recognizing the gaṇikā-Ajāmīḷa-Ahilyā-Kubjā-prthivī canonical-five
- Brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka-I-his-ankita — the bondsman-claim
- Bhakti-confidence-restoration in moments of self-condemnation